No Gods, No Masters
by TheOneAndOnly1993
Summary: "I am very eager to serve you, my Diamond!" White Diamond allowed a smile, she was certainly eager to please. "Time will tell, my Pearl."
1. First Gift

_"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery," -Thomas Jefferson_

* * *

 ** _No Gods, No Masters_**

 _TheOneAndOnly1993_

* * *

She was such a tiny thing when White Diamond first set eyes on her. She barely came up to her boot! And Pink expected this thing to serve her?

White Diamond pursed her lips. "I don't see the appeal."

The little Gem before her did not waver in her smile, nor did she drop her wrists, frozen in the tradition Authority Greeting, or let her eyes darken with disappointment at her intended's immediate dismissal.

 _She's certainly willing,_ White Diamond noticed right off the bat.

Towering above the creation was Pink Diamond, wherein she plummeted to a squat behind her, gesturing with both hands in obvious excitement as she proclaimed, "It's a Pearl! They're pseudo-Gems designed to serve their masters with any menial task, and besides, they look nice!"

White Diamond sighed. With little patience she told her ever-enthusiastic sister, "I'm aware of what a Pearl is. Stars know Yellow and Blue flaunted _theirs_ in front of me more times than I wish to remember." Pink giggled at her sister's exasperation, to which White spared a humored grunt in response.

She did have to admit though, this one was rather cute. Her peach-colored pixie cut was blown back, thinly resembling her intended master's, as did the gemstone on her forehead. As was the standard dress code for Pearls, she wore a cream-colored body suit that covered where it counted and left little to the imagination, complete with a diamond-shaped keyhole neckline, dancing shoes, and a sheer skirt that stopped midway down her thighs.

But her eyes were the brightest things White had ever seen, and they told her this Pearl was ready to serve.

White Diamond broke eye contact with the tiny thing, and dragged her gaze back up to meet Pink's, whom waited expectantly. White couldn't help but notice Pink was bouncing on the backs of her heels.

 _Stars, she's excited._

White leaned into her chair, crossing her legs. "I appreciate the gift, Pink Diamond. But I have Homeworld's army to take care of, and that includes military occupation in hundreds of blossoming colonies. I don't have the time or energy to sit for a useless trinket, especially one that no one is going to see."

White Diamond left her base once every turn of the century, and only if she was in a good mood at that.

Her dismissal, somehow, only strengthened Pink Diamond's smile. "That's what I was getting at! Pearls are completely self-sufficient, they can take care of all your busywork and make your job easier, _and_ you'll have someone to keep you company!"

White dropped her hand. "You're defective."

" _Come on,_ what harm will there be in giving her a shot? And if you don't like her, you can just throw her in a storage unit or something! _Please,_ Whitey? Pretty please, with asteroids on top?" Pink Diamond fluttered her big, curly eyelashes.

White Diamond gave her sister a long, narrow stare, before slowly dragging it back down to her gift. The Pearl was still standing, poised and awaiting her answer with some amount of expectancy.

She certainly was cute.

And Pink did have her made especially for her sister. The sentiment alone was worth considering.

Finally, after a period of thought, White relented with a short sigh. "Okay, very well. I will try her out, at the very least."

Pink Diamond whooped, pumping a fist in the air. "I promise, you won't be disappointed, Whitey! She's gonna become your best friend, I know it!"

"I can hardly wait."

"Permission to speak, my Diamond?" came a small, polite voice down below. It was the Pearl.

White Diamond rose a brow. She never heard of a Pearl speaking without being spoken to, but then again she'd only ever met Yellow's and Blue's. "Granted," she allowed.

Pearl's eyes lit up. "I'm so very eager to serve!" She caught herself, a dainty cyan blush tinted her cheeks then. "Ahem, my Diamond."

She was definitely Pinkie's creation. And for that, White Diamond graced her servant with one of her rare smiles. "Time will tell, my Pearl."

* * *

 **An update a day for the next week, detailing snippets of White Diamond's and Pearl's relationship from when White first met Pearl, until the last time, at the end of the Second Battle for Earth.**

 **Review and Favorite.**


	2. First Conversation

It was five months before White Diamond finally spoke to her Pearl.

Most days Pearl waited by her throne, poised with one leg curved up into the air, like a dancer, and sometimes she would transition into another pose with absolute grace.

Sometimes, on the rare day that was slow, White Diamond would spare a moment to watch her Pearl from the corner of her eye, twirling away as only a dainty little thing like her could.

Eventually she would begin twirling on one foot, then hop forward, perfectly landing on the tip of her toe, where she would then arc her hands above her head and bend back, and then swing her leg around into a standing position once more. It was like a dance, one that grew more elaborate as the days turned into weeks, and soon Pearl was bold enough to prance around the entirety of White Diamond's throne room.

She was never even given permission to do such a thing. But White Diamond was not offended, or even annoyed.

It was quite entertaining.

She was doing this now as White Diamond, frustrated, laid her head back and sighed quietly. "These simpletons," she grumbled. It was the first words she'd spoken since Pink left the two of them alone.

"Is something wrong, my Diamond?" When her piercing, snowy eyes flickered downwards to the tiny thing, Pearl quickly lowered her gaze, hands clasped in front of her. "Forgive me."

White Diamond waved a hand in dismissal, and resumed leaning back into her chair. "Needless, you've done me no wrong."

"But once again, I opened my mouth without being asked to," she said gently, regret in her words.

White gained some amusement in her expression. "And now you're arguing?" she challenged.

Teal exploded across Pearl's face, which she tried hiding behind her clasped hands to little effect. "I-! Uh-uhh... m-my Diamond, I-"

A low chuckle rose from White's bosom. She held up a hand. "Don't. I know what you're about to ask, and again I say, you've done nothing wrong." She settled into her chair, waving her fingers through the dozens of yards of holo-screens. Silence fell, for a moment.

"In fact, I like it," White said, surprising them both by resuming the conversation. "You're bolder than most Pearls, from what I hear of them that is. That's good. I like bold. It's something I wish for from all my Gems. Like this degenerate here." She pulled up, and with a gesture, enlarged an image of a green Gem with a single eye and spiky white hair. "This Nephrite is trying so hard to muster the courage to ask if she can have more time assembling her crew for their expedition. You'd think that's what she was made for, _groveling_. She doesn't know she's wasting _my_ time and her's by showering me with hollow pleasantries." White grumbled. "I don't want pleasantries, I want results."

Pearl hummed. A silence borne from what White Diamond assumed was her attendant not realizing she was being directly spoken to, until she heard that startled "Oh!"

"Mm. Is that the simpleton you mentioned before, my Diamond?"

White grunted in response. "Indeed. My Gems work so hard to please me, they don't realize what would actually bring me pleasure is shutting up and fulfilling their duties. If I could ask Pink Diamond to start growing them without mouths, I would. But that wouldn't be any more or less productive. It'd just be quiet." Her musings ended on a tinge of bitterness, wherein a tiny flutter of sound then echoed in the vastness of White's throne room.

It took a moment of listening for White Diamond to realize it was her Pearl giggling. And it wasn't forced amusement made to please her Diamond, but genuine laughter.

White eyed her with a sidelong gaze. "You're finding this amusing?" she asked, a bit of humor in her own voice.

Though Pearl didn't seem to catch that, as she stopped her giggling altogether and was now back to blushing and stuttering. "N-No, my Diamond!"

White's eyes widened, and let her face settle into an intense glare. Inside, she felt the rare emotion of giddiness tickle her bosom. "So you don't find my jokes funny?" she said, her typically quiet voice rising.

To which Pearl yelped. "Yes I do!"

"Your Diamond is just a big joke to you, then?"

The tiny Gem clasped her hands over her mouth, standing pigeon-toed under her owner's menacing gaze. "Not at all! No!"

White Diamond rose from her chair, standing tall and proud and thirty menacing feet over her Pearl. "You think you can weasel your way out of insulting me?"

"NO! I mean, no, I'm not trying to insult you! I wasn't, I swear on my Gem!" She had erupted into hysterics amidst her pleads, tears rolling down in pairs along her smooth cheeks.

White sneered. "Don't swear on what you don't have. Pearls aren't real Gems, everyone knows this. Further proof of your falseness, I'd say..."

Pearl dropped to her knees with a sob, hands clasped together and shaking at her Diamond in submission. "I'm not false, my Diamond! I swear! I'm loyal, you're amusing! Incredibly so! And, and you're smart, and wise, and perfect-!"

" _Enough_ ," White Diamond spoke, forcefully to cease Pearl's grovelling. The aforementioned Gem kept her head lowered. Now White's humor was truly gone. "Rise."

Pearl rose. She kept her hands clasped over her chest, big blue eyes wet and wide and full of fear.

"It was all a joke, my Pearl. You had no cause for distress."

Pearl's body went rigid for a moment, processing this, before a grin spread across her face and she started laughing. "Most humorous, my Diamond!" Her titters were light and airy, yet White did not receive any pleasure from hearing them like before. This was obviously forced. Fake.

Meaningless.

Her mood effectively soured, White lowered herself back into her seat. "Pearl?"

Like a switch the laughter stopped and Pearl had her feet together at attention. "Yes, my Diamond?" Discreetly, though not enough that White didn't notice, she quickly brushed a hand across her still-damp eyes.

The matriarch considered her next words like she would a command to her army. Why, she did not know, but she felt some weight inside as she asked her Pearl, "That dancing you do, do you enjoy it?"

"Oh, absolutely, my Diamond! I practice whenever I can, it's fairly enjoyable to be, dare I say, so incredibly graceful?" She even did a little curtsy.

White laughed through her nose; she could tell Pearl's enthusiasm was genuine from the energy in her voice and the way her eyes lit up at the question. It wasn't just to please her Diamond, and for that, White found herself invested.

Blush ravaged Pearl's pale face as White Diamond remarked, "It is rather cute," as a Bismuth would compliment another's craftsmanship.

She bowed again. "Thank you, my Diamond."

"Dance for me." The expression on her Pearl's face was nothing short of wonder. White nodded in approval. "Go on, dance away."

Pearl's hands came together above her head, forming a delicate point. "Y-Yes, my Diamond! Right away!"

She spun away, the whole throne room her stage, and White her audience. All the while the Matriarch watched her movements, the fluidity of them that she worked to perfect day in and day out.

Dedication and passion, White realized, as Pearl pirouetted at least a dozen times in one spin.

That is why she cared.

* * *

 **Sorry this is late. Hope you enjoyed. There will be another one this evening.**


	3. First Mission

White Diamond was having a particularly stressful day: one of her own colonies had been demolished by a meteorite, something she had yet to notify Blue Diamond of, and will surely bite her in the rear if she waited any longer. On the edge of the system, a budding colony of Yellow Diamond was engaged in combat with the locals, and required her army. Nephrite was changing things up at least, by being _aggressively_ stupid that is. On top of all that, Pink Diamond was leaving Homeworld to establish her first colony.

She was never more grateful to have Pearl by her side. "More to the left," she mumbled, flicking her wrist and another report hovering in front of her out of the way.

"Yes, my Diamond." Sitting on the headrest of her massive throne, Pearl worked her dainty little hands into the back of White's neck. She applied more pressure to a particularly agitated spot, but as soon as she did the tension crawled further down.

"Down, down."

"Of course."

A most un-Diamondlike moan escaped White's core. "Yes," she hissed. She allowed Pearl to knead away for several more hours until she felt satisfied. "That's enough." Pearl stopped immediately. White leaned forward slightly and turned, so her head was facing her servant - she was perched at the top of her throne, her pale, skinny legs crossed, hands in her lap, tiny smile awaiting her Diamond's command.

White did not issue one, merely she reached up, wrapping one hand around almost the entirety of Pearl's body, who gave no noise of protest apart from a tiny squeak at being grabbed. Though White took care to be gentle, so as not to make her Pearl uncomfortable. She leaned back into her throne and proceeded to stroke Pearl's hair with her thumb. The little Gem cooed in delight, and White smiled behind a mask of indifference.

It was a mask White often donned, especially on days she had to meet other Gems face-to-face. It was always hard on a day such as this, where she had anxiety bubbling molten hot in tandem with her rage, but doused over by a bit of pride that, today, came with its own, unique brand of disquiet feelings.

On days like this, White often found herself with Pearl in her grasp, brushing her hair, making sure the mask fit for the day.

Her ruminations were unraveled when she felt a slight nudging against the crook of her finger. She flitted her solid gaze down to the Pearl clutched in her hand. "Yes, Pearl?"

It was a quiet alert the two of them had come up with, when Pearl wished to say something but did not want to speak aloud and disturb her Diamond's thoughts.

"You've stopped petting me, my Diamond." Pearl gazed to her with worry, but not patronizingly so, never; always in awe. "Is there something troubling you?"

In this particular moment, White felt compelled to spring her hand open, so suddenly, and with a tiny yelp Pearl dropped onto her thigh.

"Apologies," said White. "That was abrupt. You deserved forewarning."

Pearl blushed lightly, looking far too suggestive kneeling down there, looking up at her Diamond with bright, blue eyes. "It's nothing," she assured her with a smile, which quickly faded as she gazed longer into White's eyes. She leaned over and began rubbing her cheek against her thumb. "Everything will be fine, my Diamond."

White looked away. "Curses," she hissed. Her fists tightened, tightened, _squeezed..._ then fell open with a defeated sigh. "Is it really so obvious, Pearl?"

"I wouldn't say so," she assured her. The servant merely raised her hands in submission. "I _am_ the only Gem who sees you every hour of every day." She adopted a playful, teasing lilt. "I've had plenty of time to get _intimate_ with White Diamond and all her little quirks and tells."

Normally she would find this playful talk arousing, get her to unwind because Pearl knows it will. But today, White could only be disgusted. "Ugh." She glanced off to the side, sulking, but gaining some physical relief feeling Pearl rub her face into her thumb.

She didn't understand though, how that statement was more true than she cared to acknowledge further; White Diamond had probably seen Pearl in their hundred years together more than she had all three of her own sisters _combined_.

And now one of them was leaving, for a couple centuries at _least_.

A brief moan bubbled in her throat, the sensation of Pearl rubbing her hands in slow, loving circles upon White's own gratifying her desire for physical contact. She mulled over Pearl's words from moments ago, the Gem who served her every waking moment, obediently, efficiently, without ever stepping foot outside of this room.

"My perfect Pearl," White mumbled.

A light giggle, and she could just feel Pearl's intense blush. "My perfect Diamond."

The Matriarch huffed in amusement, which transitioned into a steady, long, broken chuckle. "You must tire of this."

"Never of you, my Diamond. It's a great honor to serve you." Pearl's answer was immediate. Concise. Perfect.

...Practiced.

... _Programmed._

It was times like this where White Diamond grew _annoyed_ by Pearl, when she wasn't being _genuine,_ not like when she danced. She merely barked whatever tripe she thought her Diamond wanted to hear. It was...

... _expected_ of her.

Her mood effectively soured, White brushed her hand away from Pearl, making the little Gem pathetically fall forward onto her thigh. "Enough. Leave me."

The Gem gathered herself, her hands curled into her chest as she gazed to the heavens with these oh-so-pathetic eyes. "M-My Diamond, did I do something wrong?"

White's mind was already a maelstrom of conflicting feelings, and now this Pearl had the gall to _question HER **AUTHORITY?!**_

" _I. Said. Leave._ "

She nodded rapidly. Tearfully. "Y-Yes, my Diamond! I'm sorry my Diamond!"

White watched through narrowed eyes the Pearl clamber down her massive throne. She lost her footing in the rush and fell back pathetically on her butt. White snorted. "Puny little thing."

Wincing, Pearl got up, still hunched over from the pain in her backside as she met White Diamond's eyes once more, and gave a single, meek little nod in agreement before turning round and shambling off to the side of the room. She rose one leg, straight as an arrow into the cosmos, her hands meeting in a fine point above her head, and held it.

A couple hours later, a Bronzite tried connecting via telecom. White allowed it, activating her own telecom with a wave. The green holoscreen in front of her enlarged to fill with the serene expression of Bronzite, with the complexion of polished copper and black hair pulled back into a bun, her single eye weighed with three layers of bags. "My Diamond," she greeted in a strong voice, her hands formed in the signature gesture.

White bowed her head. "Bronzite. What is it?"

"The Sister Diamonds are here to see you."

"Very good. Send them up." She was about to gesture for the video feed to cut off, until the Bronzite went, "Aaand..." Her tired expression finally varied with some emotion, that being clear unease.

White rose a brow. "Yes?"

The Bronzite shifted, apparently looking over her monitor and then sat back down, eye wide with... something. "They wish to come up _alone_."

Now White furrowed her brow. "...And?" she prompted.

"And..." Bronzite rubbed her cheek, "...shall I tend to their Quartz and Pearls?"

White swung a hand through the holoscreen, cutting off the feed in an instant but disappointed that she couldn't just smash it. Oh, how she longed for the feeling of breaking something beneath her fist.

Then again, that is why she switched to holoscreens. Though in truth it was Yellow who pestered her about it.

White muffled a frustrated sigh; if her sisters wanted to bring their entire courts to her tower they should have planned for them to keep themselves not busy, not expect _her_ Gems to entertain them.

It wasn't a minute before her own Quartz outside the door to her throne room deactivated the lock, and the threshold slid open. White swiveled her throne around to face her guests, hands bent into the greeting of the Authority. "Salutations, my fellow Diamonds."

Entering her chamber was Yellow and Pink, mimicking the gesture. "Hiya, Whitey!" said the bubblier of the two. She snorted. "Or, k-heh! I should say, 'Bye Whitey!' Ha!"

Yellow gave her sister a sidelong glare before rolling her eyes. "Don't take this so seriously now, Pink Diamond."

"Sorry, Yellow!" said Pink, rubbing her knuckles together. "I'm just, AH! I'm so excited to establish my first colony and actually _be_ there to see its completion!"

Though contained behind her usual mask of stoicism, the corner of Yellow Diamond's lip curled upwards.

"Careful now, Yellow," White chided as she approached. "You're letting your emotions show."

"Inconceivable," the sister dryly remarked. "To more _important_ matters, the fleet is prepped. All Gems are accounted for. And Pink Diamond," aforementioned sister squealed, "is ready." Yellow folded her hands behind her back. "We await your command, White Diamond."

Indeed, White thought, they do. Although the Diamond Authority shared equal power, ruling the four spheres that governed their species and the Gems within, White Diamond was the absolute Matriarch of her fellow sisters. There were certain matters that determined the fate of all Gemkind, and must be handled with nothing short of efficiency.

With this on her mind, White turned away from her sisters, hands behind her back and gazing into the heavens. The dome of her roof gave way to the cosmos beyond - a boundless void, polluted with thousands and thousands of stars.

So much of it, theirs.

"It's been decades," she lamented. White lowered her gaze, and in a low voice uttered, "I do hope this is worth it."

"I would never have wasted your time if it wasn't," said Yellow Diamond. She perhaps spent the most of her valuable, costly time out of any of the Diamonds, all at Pink's behest at that. "When my Red Eyes came back, I sent two more to make sure, and then one more after that to banish any lingering doubts. Pink Diamond tested the samples they returned: this planetoid is one of the richest we've ever encountered."

Those two more, of course, being the result of Pink Diamond's request. Yellow could have simply told her no, that this planet was simply too far out of Homeworld's reach, too large to take on now. But over a hundred years later, with recent advancements in space travel and exploration, on top of their ever-expanding empire, Pink Diamond's pet project will finally be realized. And she will be the one to personally oversee it.

"The amount of Gems just _one_ Kindergarten could produce number in the _thousands_!" explained Pink. She held up all ten of her fingers. "Now imagine this many Kindergartens, times _two_! And that's just _one_ possible sector Yellow's Red Eyes have mapped out!" In a high voice she sang, " _Worth it~!"_

White made an impressed grunt. She'd heard this all before, a hundred times over in fact, for sure. But Pink Diamond, though quite an eccentric Gem, was exceptional at what she did, and she deserved the small appraisal.

Even so, being a Gem in her position, White had to see the bigger picture. "This will be a costly expedition. Time, resources, Gems. It already is, in fact. Stars know Blue Diamond has been fighting tooth and nail on your behalf to convince the Homeworld elites that this would be worth it."

Pink Diamond's gaze fell, where she gently tapped her fingers together. "Yeah, she has," the Diamond sadly lamented. It was unfortunate Blue could not be on Homeworld to see her sister off, but alas, she had her own colonies to tend to.

Yellow actually snorted. "If Blue's flock of bootlickers smell an opportunity they'll take it. It was only a matter of time. My Peridots have been hard at work preparing a fleet that could transport their frivolous selves to a whole other star system."

"Yellow," Pink chided, "is that resentment I hear?"

" _Please_. We've been on the even for a couple years now, a little more waiting wouldn't have hurt." Yellow's lip twitched ever so slightly. "It's the politics I can't stand."

Pink Diamond giggled at her sister's expense, and even White spared a humored grunt. Amidst it all, Yellow Diamond bared the subtlest of smirks. As their moment of lightheartedness died down, and silence leaked in between them, the three sisters found themselves at a crossroads, looking to one another in content silence.

But it only lasted for a moment.

White approached her bubbly sister-diamond with open arms.

"Farewell, my Diamond." They embraced, Pink squeezing far too too tightly for a Diamond of the Authority, and her wild, unruly hair tickled White's cheeks. They pulled apart so she could do the same with Yellow.

"We shall speak when you land," Yellow told her.

"Yep! Talk to ya soon, Mellow-Yellow!" Pink bobbed her head up and down, and as she pulled away, gave her a hard clap on the back, the ensuing sound resounding throughout White's throne room and wiping away any trace of sentiment that may have shone on Yellow's set expression. White chuckled at her expense.

Pink Diamond looked over to her sister, expectant. "So," she challenged, "didja forget?"

White did, in that moment of sentiment, forget, but she did not let it show. "You are dismissed," she allowed. And Pink Diamond bowed her head in quite a reserved, though evidently-jubilant manner, before this serenity was promptly broken as Pink turned on her heel and jogged out the door.

Yellow shook her head before casually strolling after her. "I will see you later, White Diamond." She was looking back over her shoulder.

"Until then, Yellow Diamond."

Her sister gave a slight nod of her head before the door slammed shut behind her.

White returned to her throne and leaned back, gazing deep into the cosmos above her head. She watched for hours as more and more saucers filled her view, descending, descending, until they were mere specks alongside the stars.

It was then that more pressing matters returned to mind. White grimaced at the thought, the colony that had been obliterated by the asteroid. What a waste, what a mess sorting it out would be. Surely leading this excursion will backlog her at least another seven years.

White leaned forward, stroking her chin, pondering. She could simply leave the colony to die. It would be a horrible idea for a number of political reasons, but she still _could._ Sending just a fleet of rescue vessels on their lonesome would be good, but not much better - staying on Homeworld would show she cared not for the many colonies under her rule. But all this work left undone... Pearl could handle the busywork, she has before, but...

But...

White Diamond gazed across her throne room, where Pearl was still in her delicate pose.

Then she leaned back into her chair, Pearl on her mind, even as she resumed her work. It was five weeks before she reached a consensus.

"Pearl, come."

"Yes, my Diamond!" Tiny footsteps tip-tapped across the glossy tiles of her throne room as she ran over. She gave the signature Diamond Authority greeting. "What will you ask of me?" she questioned all-too-eagerly.

White wasted no time, she wished to get to the point. "One of my colonies in the next nebula over has been struck by an asteroid not too long ago. In light of this catastrophe, I am expected to personally attend to it. However, Pink Diamond's excursion to the soon-to-be-colony of Earth has left me with much to be done in her absence. Therefore, I am sending you to tend to the rescue effort in my stead." White picked her head up after two seconds of silence.

She looked over, and saw Pearl with the biggest, most worrisome eyes she bore to date.

"Is there an issue, Pearl?"

"N-No, my Diamond! I-I'm just... I'm taken aback. Typically Pearls aren't entrusted with this _magnitude_ of a duty."

White almost laughed. _Almost._ "Please, you are just a Pearl. Merely you will do what you're best at: you will stand there, and look pretty. My fleet will tend to the rest. Your presence will merely be a symbol of my presence. It's an important task to be sure, one I expect and want _you_ , _Pearl_ , to handle."

"M-Me?" she squeaked.

"Yes. For too long you've been hidden away in my throne room, and it's a big galaxy, one I wish for all of Gemkind to experience. And you're a part of that, after all." White considered her next words carefully. "And you're too perfect to be locked away in here for all time."

From the corner of her eye, she saw tears in Pearl's eyes threatening to spill over. She bowed deep. "Thank you, my Diamond. My magnificent, flawless Diamond." One would have thought she had just been granted Matriarch of Homeworld.

And White felt... _lighter_ , inside, even as she spoke so neutrally. "The fleet leaves tomorrow. I will assign a couple of Rose Quartz to bring you to my flagship."

* * *

 **Pearl spoke in 'Space Race' about travelling the cosmos. I imagined this was the beginnings of it.**


End file.
